Judges 21:25 “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.”
I love the Bible and read it every day, but I have to admit, when my reading cycle lands on Judges, I become reluctant. The book records, arguably, the most sordid chapter in Israel’s history. Kind of an alternative version of The Lord of the Flies.
The Bible doesn’t pull any punches in describing the behavior of God’s people. The same ones who vowed to serve God faithfully turned to pagan worship on a regular basis. They condoned vile acts, including the abduction of virgin women to provide wives for one of their tribes. A tribe that had almost been annihilated when they refused to surrender the men responsible for gang-raping a woman to her death. The last verse in the book of Judges succinctly gives the reason for Israel’s rampant immorality. “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.”
In other words, everyone did their own thing instead of God’s thing. And the results proved devastating. No matter how much we romanticize rugged individualism, there’s nothing beautiful or noble about stomping all over God’s plan in order to achieve our goals. Israel learned this the hard way. And it’s the same for us.
The mantra of “do your own thing” is more deadly than we think. Our hearts can be incredibly deceitful. (Jeremiah 17:9).
I recently discovered an old diary I had kept from 1966. I honestly didn’t know if I wanted to peek into my 17-year-old self, but I took the plunge. So now I’m reliving all the ups and downs of a highly emotional senior in high school. My desire to have a closer walk with God was juxtaposed to the drama of a possessive boyfriend who clearly had no interest in spiritual things. At that point, I didn’t recognize the conflict. I seemed content to pursue dating a guy who was all wrong for me, because in my mind, it fit. Had I continued to rely on my heart to lead, the results would have been disastrous.
But God graciously steered me toward his Lordship. Disaster averted.
Inherent danger lies in the choice to do our own thing. Trust me, no matter how many times the culture encourages you to follow your heart, don’t listen. It’s so much smarter to follow God.